When I went by the lfs today, I told them I had too many fish already in my tanks and that I couldn't get anything else unless I traded something in. They indicated that my bottom dwellers should not count towards my inches-of-fish-per-gallon b/c they don't take up the swimming space and that, with adequate filtration mind you, only middle and upper level swimmers should be counted in the inches per gallon stocking level guideline. Now I'm a little over the 1" already with my tanks. I'm at 1.2 - 1.6 inches of fish per gallon now on my tanks. My fish don't seem crowded, everyone eats, no fights have been observed, and the fish seem healthy and happy, although I can't really tell what a "happy" fish looks like. They are colored-up nicely and they swim and interact well (males showing-off for females and all that).
Any opinions on this variation of the 1" guidline?
Any opinions on this variation of the 1" guidline?